Clouds roll over the Washington Monument, as seen from the foot of the monument, during a press preview tour ahead of its official reopening, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2019, in Washington. The monument, which has been closed to the public since August 2016, is scheduled to re-open Thursday, Sept. 19. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

When open, the monument averages about 500,000 visitors per year.

The monument has been closed for most of the past eight years. An August 2011 earthquake left cracks in the stones near the top of the obelisk. It reopened in 2014, but Park Service officials were forced to close it again two years later after a series of elevator malfunctions.

“It was two or three times a week,” Litterst said. “We couldn’t guarantee that you wouldn’t get stuck.”

Construction on the monument began in 1848 and took nearly 40 years to complete. The private organization that was running the project ran out of funding and construction was halted in 1854 at around 150 feet; that delay was exacerbated by the Civil War.

Construction resumed in 1879, but builders were forced to use stone from a different quarry — giving the obelisk its distinctive two-tone color.

National Parks Service park rangers gather outside a new security screening building at the foot of the Washington Monument during a preview tour ahead of the monument’s official reopening, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2019, in Washington. The monument, which has been closed to the public since August 2016, is scheduled to re-open Thursday, Sept. 19. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)